An attack vector is nothing but a path taken by the attacker in order to successfully exploit the vulnerability. The attack vector metric indicates the possible ways in which vulnerability could be exploited. The number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited remotely over the Internet is comparatively more than the number of attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, hence the metric value would be larger the more remote the attacker could be in order to exploit the vulnerability:
|
Parameter |
Description |
Example |
|
Network |
Vulnerability could be exploited remotely over the network. The vulnerable component is connected to the network and the attacker could access it through layer 3 (OSI). |
Denial of service caused by sending a specially crafted TCP packet |
|
Adjacent |
Vulnerability could be exploited within the same physical or logical network. It cannot be exploited beyond the network boundary. |
Bluejacking attack, ARP flooding |
|
Local |
The vulnerable component is not connected to the network by any means and the attacker has to be locally logged in in order to exploit the vulnerability. |
Privilege escalation |
|
Physical |
Vulnerability could only be exploited if the attacker has physical access to the vulnerable system/component. |
Cold boot attack |